Websites design, implementation and maintenance often involve great expense. This is attributable, in part, to the increasingly complex set of features that make up even relatively generic websites. These features include both content and software (active components). The design, implementation and maintenance of content and software are often complex, and often require specialized practitioners. The need to keep both software and content current adds considerably to the expense of maintaining websites. Unfortunately, this is often an absolute necessity in the fast changing environment of the Internet and World Wide Web.
The expenses associated with website deployment and operation are exacerbated in cases where a company or organization must maintain a series of different websites. This can happen, for example, in cases where an organization must maintain a web presence in different countries or regions. In many cases, this involves far more than simply providing different language versions of the same website. Examples where this is true include websites maintained by financial institutions. These websites are often tightly constrained by local regulations and laws. As a result, financial institutions are often forced to build and maintain completely separate websites for each country or region of use. This can greatly increase the expense of maintaining a web presence.
The expenses of website deployment and operation are attributable (at least in part) with the traditional methodologies used to construct websites. These same methodologies have a number of other undesirable results. One of these is the difficulty of tailoring websites to fit the needs and preferences of individual users. This problem is similar, in many ways, to the problem of deploying multiple websites to suit different regions. In the case of websites for individuals, however, the scale of the problem can be quite massive with many websites having thousands of different users.
For these and other reasons, a need exists for systems that allow websites to be quickly and inexpensively targeted to multiple users, uses and environments. This is particularly important in cases where an organization needs to maintain a web presence in multiple countries or regions.